Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-14
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
In many countries, primary and secondary schools close for two months or more in the summer holidays.
What is the value of long school holidays?
What are the arguments in favour of shorter school holidays?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
It is globally argue that primary and secondary schools has a long summer break for two months or more. School provide long break for students due to the fact that students also needs a break after how many months of studying. However, some people argue that giving students a long holidays lose their capability to understand easy test or forget all the lessons they learned from the school.
Numerous parents argue that it is important to give children a long holidays therefore young people can unwind and be free from school or school works and especially students can also spend time with their family more often and can be able to travel with different countries. Furthermore, students tend to like to have a long break because they can do whatever they wany without having to worry about school or homework.
Moreover, some parents believe that school should have a shorten school holidays. Parents worried for their child because they might forget all the lessons and just focus more in online games and social media. In additon, students probably be more addicted on online games and that is one of the main reason why other belief that it should have a shorter school holidays because of the young people focusing more in online games and not helping their parents especially to those who does not listen to their parents.
In conclusion, short and long school holidays have different poin of view especially for the parents who are just worried for their child. I believe that we should not invalidate parents feelings because it is not just about online games or social media it is also about losing students knowledge.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses both questions: it explains that long holidays allow students to rest, spend time with family and travel, then presents the concern that a long break may lead to forgotten learning and more time on games or social media. These are relevant points, but they are mostly listed rather than explained with specific examples or consequences. The discussion of shorter holidays is also narrower than the discussion of long holidays, and the conclusion does not clearly weigh the two positions or state a definite view on which arrangement is preferable. To strengthen the response, explain how a shorter break could help students retain knowledge, and develop each main reason with a concrete example. A clearer, consistent position would make the answer more complete.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the benefits of long and shorter holidays, and a conclusion. Linking expressions such as “Furthermore,” “Moreover,” and “In addition” help signal the movement between points. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes repetitive: the shorter-holiday paragraph repeats the concern about online games without clearly separating or extending the ideas. Some connections are also unclear, particularly the opening contrast between the need for a break and the claim that long holidays reduce students’ ability. Use topic sentences that state each paragraph’s main argument, then organise supporting details in a clear sequence. More precise referencing would also help readers follow who holds each view.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main ideas, with relevant terms such as “unwind,” “homework,” “social media,” and “capability.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems make the writing less natural or occasionally unclear. Examples include “a long holidays,” “a shorten school holidays,” “lose their capability,” and “different poin of view”; “wany” and “additon” are spelling errors. Repetition of “long holidays,” “students,” and “online games” also limits flexibility. Build a bank of accurate phrases for discussing education and learning, and check word forms and spelling. More precise expressions would help distinguish the benefits of rest from concerns about learning retention.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response attempts both simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “because,” “therefore,” and “especially,” but control is inconsistent. Errors in agreement and verb forms appear in examples such as “schools has,” “students also needs,” and “Parents worried”; the latter needs a finite verb. There are also problems with articles, plurals, and sentence construction, as in “a long holidays” and “students probably be more addicted.” These errors sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to follow. Practise building accurate sentences around a clear subject and verb, then check agreement and verb forms. You can retain complex clauses, but make sure each one is grammatically complete before adding further details.
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